The Border Part Six by Amy Cross Read Free Book Online Page A

pain go away.”
    ***
    “Here’s that coffee,” the nurse said, handing a steaming plastic cup to Jane. “Sorry it’s not the best in the world.”
    “Thanks,” Jane replied, taking the cup with a shaking hand and holding it close to her face, so she could feel the warmth. Shivering slightly, she was sitting on a plastic chair in a hospital corridor, waiting for a doctor to come and give her the all-clear. Her shoulder hurt like hell, but she knew it would be fine and she just wanted to get back to town and deal with the aftermath of the night’s events.
    “Are you sure you don’t want me to call someone?” the nurse asked after a moment, clearly worried about her.
    She shook her head.
    The nurse paused, as if she was trying to think of something else she could do to help, but finally she smiled and headed off along the busy corridor, stopping after a few paces to talk to one of her colleagues. After a moment they both glanced at Jane, as if they were worried about her.
    “Doctor Mackenzie to room five, please,” a voice announced over a speaker. “Doctor Mackenzie to room five.”
    At the far end of the corridor, a drunk man was being helped toward a room, although he seemed reluctant to follow orders.
    “Jesus,” Jane muttered, looking down at the cup in her hands as she realized she could barely hold it still. She had no idea why she was trembling so much, she felt fine in her mind, but for some reason her body seemed to be having its own individual panic attack.
    “What the hell do you think you were doing tonight?” she imagined Jack snapping at her. “You could have died!”
    “I was fine,” she’d tell him.
    “This doesn’t change anything,” she heard him say at the back of her mind. “Sure, Joe killed a few people, but the root cause of it all is Ben. He killed Caitlin all those years ago, and the others too.”
    She winced as she felt a heavy sense of nausea churning in her gut.
    “Jane?” she heard Bob’s voice say suddenly. “What are you doing here?”
    For a fraction of a second, she frowned, wondering why she was imagining Bob’s voice at all. A moment later, feeling the chair shake as someone slumped down next to her, she turned and saw to her surprise that he was really there. Sweating and obviously half drunk, half hungover, he looked to be a complete mess, with his right hand heavily bandaged and specks of blood on his shirt.
    “Bob?” was all she could manage to say, so shocking was the sight.
    “Rough night, huh?” he replied with an exhausted smile. He leaned back, resting his head against the noticeboard on the wall and briefly closing his eyes as if he was about to take a nap. “So did you get attacked by a raccoon too?”
    “A what?”
    “A raccoon.” He held his bandaged hand up for her to see. “I swear to God, the little monster just leaped out of the dark at me.”
    She stared at him. “What?”
    “I was having a night on the town,” he continued, “with a friend from work. My boss, actually. And then he had to go, and I had one more drink, and then I decided to walk home instead of trying to drive. Responsible, huh?” He sighed. “And I stopped to take a pee in a bush, and as I was tinkling away, I realized something was moving in there. And then, just after I was done, something small and dark jumped out at me and crunched down on my fingers.” He stared at his hand for a moment, as if he could barely believe what had happened. “I never actually seen a raccoon before. I mean, I knew they existed, but I’d never seen one. And then this happened.”
    Jane frowned.
    “Anyway,” he muttered, “it hurt like a bitch, so I figured I’d better come here. I called Beth and told her, but she didn’t believe me. I guess she’ll have no choice when she sees the wound.” He paused. “Do you think, if I get the doctor to write me a note confirming I was attacked by a raccoon, Beth’ll have to believe it? I mean, a doctor’s note counts for something.